2021 Toyota Highlander

I am an owner of a 2021 Highlander XLE AWD (bought new). In October of 2024 around 34000 miles the transmission started to make a whining noise and seemed to be surging/bucking , hesitation and hunting for gears. Toyota determined it fit the criteria of a TSB to have the transmission replaced. The dealership had my car for two months and then eventually replaced the transmission with a remanufactured unit. This “new” unit still has the issues of surging/bucking , hesitation and hunting for gears. I fear that this “new” transmission is in the process of failing again with less than 10k on it. Of course I will be out of warranty when it does and I’ll be on the hook for a $10000 repair. I’m appalled that Toyota has not done a true fix for this issue and has not even put an extended warranty on it either. I purchased this vehicle from Toyota on good faith that it would last and be reliable. 34k one transmission died and I’m sure this one will follow suite. Ultimately UA80 transmission is ticking time bomb and Toyota needs to be held accountable for this.

The vehicle experienced a transmission failure at approximately 62,000 miles, which required a transmission replacement. Toyota replaced the transmission with a rebuilt transmission. Immediately after the repair, the vehicle began experiencing multiple issues that were not present prior to the repair. The vehicle initially would not reverse, and the battery was drained shortly after the repair was completed. Following the repair, the vehicle has continued to experience ongoing electrical malfunctions, including dashboard warning lights, system alerts, and dash lights flashing during remote start. The vehicle has also developed a rattling noise underneath the vehicle. The exact failed component has not been clearly identified. The dealership has provided changing diagnoses and has not provided written diagnostic documentation despite requests. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership multiple times; however, the issues have not been resolved. During a recent diagnostic, the dealership stated that the catalytic converter is now the issue, but this does not address the ongoing electrical problems. These issues raise safety concerns due to unpredictable vehicle behavior and potential failure of critical systems while driving. Warning lights and system errors began appearing after the transmission repair and have continued since that time. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request.

A whining noise was observed at around 78k miles. Brought to the dealer and they indicated parts in the transmission are failing and it requires replacement. They said this has been happening more frequently on 2021 Highlanders (also see T-SB-0008-21). It's also a well-documented issue online. My contact with Toyota was that they did not intend to cover any repairs as the vehicle is out of warranty, even though it's not an isolated issue. They would not disclose how many vehicles have reported this issue. I believe it has reached safety recall-level.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced transmission failure while driving. There was an abnormal whining sound coming from the vehicle while accelerating, and the sound increased in volume while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with an internal transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 55,803.

My 2021 Toyota Highlander was my first car I purchased that I saved up for and has had a sudden issue accrue with a winning sound out of now where. I took it to the dealer ship and they told me I need a new transmission. My vechile only has 73k miles and I noticed this sound is getting worst and worst. I don’t know what to do so I turned to the internet and I was blow away to see how many people have this same issue with the same year and it’s been happing to so many people. I am a father of a special needs child and I sport my family on my own I can not afford to replace this and they won’t do anything for me. I beg anyone that reads this to please help us out cause this is not fair they we pay our hard earned money to get hit with this unexpected issues that they obviously know about but want do anything cause it will ruin there rep.

Upon inspection at my local Toyota dealership, the UA80F 8-speed transmission on my 2021 Toyota Highlander has a known whining noise attributed to a failed transmission pump. The whining noise occurs when the car accelerates from 0 to around 50 miles per hour. When it gets to highway speeds, there is no noise. Anyone in the car can be put at risk if the transmission stops functioning on the roadways, and we're left stranded or we're suddenly blocking traffic. This issue is a known issue according to T-SB-0008-21, and there are many people online who seemed to have encountered this issue even beyond the warranty limits of 5 years/60,000 miles. Even my local AAMCO tells me that this is a dreaded and known issue of past customers. This issue first appeared around the 60,000 miles of distance traveled. There is no warning for this problem. You just have to be fortunate enough to discover the noise before the warranty deadlines. I discovered the noise at around 58,000 miles around June 2025, but I didn't know it was an issue back then. Had I known about this, I would've still qualified for the warranty. This noise has been reproduced and confirmed by my local Toyota dealership, and they're quoting me $11,506.53 to fix this issue. Other 3rd party transmission shops are quoting me ~$6,000. I'm frankly frustrated that Toyota did not issue a recall for this known issue that I did not cause. I wanted to drive this car for life, but I'm unsure what to do now. Either pay an exorbitant amount of money or sell it.